Citigroup Cuts Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Price Target to $229.00

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) had its price objective cut by analysts at Citigroup from $232.00 to $229.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the information services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.96% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on GOOGL. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.32.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $206.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,029 shares of company stock worth $18,462,883 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alphabet

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.